SpaceX placed another twenty-three Starlink Mini V2 satellites in orbit after successfully launching the Starlink 6-58 mission from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station this evening.

Liftoff was at 08:53 PM EDT. Around 8.5 minutes after liftoff, the first-stage booster used for the mission, tail number B1073, touched down safely on ASDS ‘A Shortfall of Gravitas’, stationed downrange in the Atlantic Ocean. About roughly an hour after liftoff, the satellites were deployed in their intended orbits and the mission deemed a success.

According to Jonathon McDowell,“The reentry of S-2601 earlier today means that there are only 5999 Starlinks in orbit following today’s launch, not 6000 as some were predicting.” Still, 5,999 is an incredible number, with the 6,000 benchmark just over the horizon — SpaceX has Starlink missions slated in the next couple of weeks.

Tonight’s mission was the 36th launch from the Eastern Range (KSC and Cape Canaveral Space Force Station combined) in 2024 and the 34th Falcon 9 so far this year.

A Rare Quiet Week Ahead For The Eastern Range

Barring an unforeseen change in the launch schedule, the Cape will have a rare quiet week with United Launch Alliance next up on the launchpad at Space Launch Complex 40 in Cape Canaveral for the Boeing Starliner Crew Flight Test launch on Friday.

The quieter week may be attributable to something Will Robinson-Smith of Spaceflight Now reported on May 12: ‘one of SpaceX’s two Automated Spaceport Drone Ships is in dry-dock in the Bahamas for repairs.’ Given that one droneship is at sea and returning to port with tonight’s booster, the other undergoing repairs, no mid-week launches makes sense. SpaceX plans to get back into action with another Starlink launch as soon as Friday.

Payload

Twenty-three Starlink satellites which will join the 5,986 active satellites in the low-Earth orbital constellation for Starlink’s Internet service, for a total of 5,999.

Of Interest:

Eric Berger of Ars Technica reported on May 10, 2024 that, “According to the research firm Quilty Space, SpaceX’s Starlink satellite Internet business is now profitable.“

Ars Technica “Analyst on Starlink’s rapid rise“

SpaceX and its Starlink business are both privately held and not required to publicly file profit-and-loss statements, so any financial result assessment is based on estimations.

At the same time, Quilty Space is a respected firm, so their statements should be given some value and consideration. It’s fair to assume that on the direct costs side of their business, SpaceX has achieved economies of scale in satellite manufacturing, launch services and orbital operations. Booster reusability has also lowered the capital expenses, with only the cost of refurbishment of the booster and fairings added to the op-ex mix. Their indirect labor operations have also been running long enough to achieve optimization through internal analysis, further driving down their operations expenses. Overall, Starlink has steadily added customers and have, according to Space News on May 10, “2.7 million subscribers across 75 countries.” All of these are signs of a healthy business.

All said, Starlink has grown its customer base, driven down the cost of per-unit manufacturing, and optimized its launch system and operational efficiency. Quilty Space’s numbers are likely close to correct, or at least in the ballpark. Only Elon Musk and his fellow investors in the firm know for sure.

Launch Replay

Tonight’s launch coverage from SpaceX, as archived on YouTube:

Booster: B1073

This was the 15th flight for the first stage booster supporting this mission, tail number B1073. which previously launched SES-22, ispace’s HAKUTO-R MISSION 1, Amazonas-6, CRS-27, Bandwagon-1, and nine Starlink missions.

Booster B1073		May 12, 2024
Flight	Mission	Date
1	Starlink 4-15	May 14, 2022
2	SES-22	June 29, 2022
3	Starlink 4-26	August 10, 2022
4	Starlink 4-35	September 24, 2022
5	HAKUTO-R	December 11, 2022
6	Amazonus Nexus	February 7, 2023
7	CRS-27	March 15, 2023
8	Starlink 6-2	April 19, 2023
9	Starlink 5-11	June 12, 2023
10	Starlink 6-12	September 4, 2023
11	Starlink 6-27	November 8, 2023
12	Starlink 6-37	January 15, 2024
13	Starlink 6-41	March 4, 2024
14	Bandwagon-1	April 7, 2024
15	Starlink 6-58	May 12, 2024

Next Launch

No launches from the Eastern Range are scheduled before this coming Friday.

• Mission: Starliner CFT
• Date: NET May 18, 2024
• Company: United Launch Alliance
• Rocket: Atlas V
• Launch Site: SLC-41
• Launch Window: 6:16 PM EDT, Instantaneous window.
• Payload: NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams aboard Starliner

Keep in mind that launch dates and times change often. Launch attempts can be scrubbed anytime due to weather, technical reasons, or range conditions.

For a launch preview of that launch, check back here at Talk of Titusville, or subscribe to receive new articles as they are published. There is a link at the bottom of the home page.

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